Water Softener question

10 years ago

I take my water to Menard's once in a while to be sure the water softener works. In the past, it was always zero grains.

The last 2 times it was 4 grains and 5 grains. Water sample from bathroom sink both times.

The water softener is a smaller Water Pro. A plumbing company installed it Dec 2008. They said it was used, about 2 years old, taken from foreclosed home. So it is 7 years total.

There is a dial 1-12 with a red arrow. The black levels stick out by the 5 and the 11. This means it is set to regenerate on day 5 and day 11?

It uses about 40 lbs salt a month. I use the blue bag.

I live by myself, and water use hasn't changed.

use city water - hardness rating about 18.

does the increase in hardness mean it is slowly starting to lose its effectiveness? How long would a water softener be expected to last?

Thanks!

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Comments (4)

User
10 years ago
Most likely your softener contains cheap resin. After seven years of city water, it is highly likely the resin has been damaged by the chlorine in the city's water supply. As the beads become damaged, you will lose softener capacity.
Joe19
Original Author
10 years ago
Yikes! This makes it sound it will slowly get worse. Can the resin be repaired? Or will I be needing a new softener in the near future?
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User
10 years ago
Yes, resin can be replaced but resin costs money and labor is involved and it can be a messy job. Might not be worth the money on an older, less efficient softener.

Depleted resin could be the cause of harness leaking through but it could be that the softener is undersized for your water use and/or water conditions or not set up correctly and has lost some hardness removal capacity. If you have any iron in your water and have not been treating the resin for that you have DEFINITELY lost some hardness removal capacity.

The fact that the hardness of your softened water was ZERO and has crept up yo 4-5 gpg hardness I suspect the latter and there is an easy procedure to "goose" the resin back to as full a hardness removal capacity as it can achieve but we need to know how much resin is in the softener. It will only take you a little time and a little salt to see if it solves the problem.

Is there a separate resin tank? if yes, then is there a model number on the tank like 948 or 8x35 or something like that? If there's no model number then measure the height to the top of the tank not including the control valve and measure the tank diameter (across the tank not around it).

We need to know your water conditions, softener brand and model number, measurement of the resin tank, and posting a picture of the softener might help also.
Joe19
Original Author
10 years ago
I looked with a flashlight - I can't find a model number other than the words "The Water Pro Water conditioner"

Yes, there is a separate resin tank. The height is about 45 inches not including control valve and the width about 7.5 inches. The brine tank that holds salt is about 11.5 inches wide x 3 feet high.

The city water is hard between 18 and 20 grains. the PH range (whatever that means) is 6.5 to 8.

The softener was always big enough for me one person. . I've not ever been told there's iron in our water.

I sense I will need to have a service call which I can do.

This post was edited by Joe19 on Sun, Dec 1, 13 at 21:31